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02nd Nov 2016

Investigation suggests ‘no one at controls’ of MH370 when plane crashed into Indian Ocean

Conor Heneghan

New information was published in a report by Australian investigators on Wednesday.

A report published on Wednesday about the MH370 plane that disappeared with 239 passengers and crew in March 2014 suggests that nobody was in control of the aircraft when it crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8, 2014 and is believed to have come down in the southern Indian Ocean.

A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, published on Wednesday, said that the flaps of the Boeing 777 were not extended when it crashed, ruling out a controlled descent and suggesting that the plane plummeted into the Indian Ocean at high speed.

Researchers who had studied debris from the plane’s right wing determined that the damage caused in the crash was “consistent with the flaps in the retracted position”.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 01: Kojiro Tanaka, Head of the Japan Coast Guard mission explains today's search mission to media on board the Japan Coast Guard Gulfstream V aircraft whilst on route to the search zone for debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on April 1, 2014 in Perth, Australia. Ten planes and nine ships participated in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia today. The airliner disappeared on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board and is suspected to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean. (Photo by Paul Kane - Pool/Getty Images)

The new information clashes with the theory that someone was in control of the plane’s descent when the plane ran out of fuel over the Indian Ocean.

A team of international aviation experts will meet in Canberra to discuss the next phase of the search process for MH370, which is being co-ordinated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

“Findings of the review will be released after the meeting,” Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement.

“Australia, Malaysia, and China continue to work together to find MH370.”

If new credible evidence is not found by the end of the year, it is believed that the search will come to an end.

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